Google’s intentions are better than you think

1. Revenue

They want more revenue, and often make changes to their search makeup to achieve this goal. You can relate to this, right? After all, you’re trying to make money online too, aren’t you?

2. User experience

Believe it or not, Google actually care about their users. They want you (as a searcher) to come back over and over again. With other search engines beginning to circle (I’m looking at you, Bing), they recognize if they give up on their users someone will eventually swoop in and take them.

I don’t know about you, but I certainly can’t fault them for those two motivations.

And you know what? It actually helps us understand what we should be doing better in order to rank our content.

But let’s stick a pin in revenue motivations for a moment…

The future of SEO is ALL about user experience.

The better experience a visitor has once they click on a page/article/blog post in a Google search, the more likely they are to go back and search for something again.

That’s why search engines care.

And for you? Well, the better experience someone has on your site once they find you, the better the chance they will return.

That’s why YOU should care. (Plus your content is more likely to rank!)

Alright, enough with all the hypothetical mumbo jumbo. What can you do with this information?

Let’s talk cold hard tactics…

What EXACTLY can you do to improve the user experience on your blog and rank your content?

To help you figure that out, here are 20 things that might be stopping your content from ranking. Plus, I’ll throw in some examples of what you should do instead.

Ready?

20 Reasons Your Content Doesn’t Do Well In Search Engine Rankings

Let’s get a couple of things clear from the get go…

All of the tips I offer in this post are trying to improve the user experience on your site, as well as more effectively communicate with search engines. They aren’t overnight SEO strategies that will have you popping up on page one by Saturday.

It’s a long-term investment into high-quality, one-of-a-kind content that will get you there. (And you WILL get there if you follow these 20 tips every time you create a new blog post.)

There are a whole bunch of factors that compound together in the search algorithm to make a piece of content show up on a search results page. Today I’m going to talk about the elements that are within your control – the on-page elements – that you can directly influence by optimizing your website and content. I’m not going to discuss things like link building, which are out of your direct control.

For ease of consumption, let’s bucket these into two broad sub-headings:

So if your headline sucks, no one is going to bother clicking on your article. And if no one clicks on your article – it will quickly become insignificant.

No views = no shares = no links = poor ranking.

Your headline needs to slap me in the face and make me take notice. It’s out there amongst a sea of other headlines, popup windows, tools, calendars, emails, games, videos – all competing for your reader’s attention.

I’m not going to give you an in-depth look at what makes for a good headline because it’s already been done by some big-time sites:

Reason #2: Your WHY has gone missing

Early in your article you need to make it extremely clear WHY someone should keep reading.

They’re not reading your content as a favor… They want to know what they will get out of it.

You need to make them feel the pain of a common challenge they face, or inspire them to push towards their goals.

Content that gets below the surface and influences people to take action is the type of content that Google wants to send traffic to.

After the headline, your introduction and the big WHY is the only thing standing between your reader and the rest of your article.

If you’re not crystal clear on the benefit someone will get from each and every article you write, and you don’t articulate it in a way that makes them keep reading – they won’t.

Another bounce. Another lost opportunity. Another red mark on your site’s chance of ranking.

Try and ask open-ended questions and tap into universal problems or desires. This will bring more people along the journey with you.

Reason #3: You’re on a jargon-heavy diet

Sounding smart is fun for about 10 seconds…

Until you realize that no one understood anything you had to say and they’ve run for the hills.

Writing great content that will rank in search engines isn’t about sounding smart and packing it full of jargon. It’s about being so ridiculously helpful that people KNOW you are smart.

They know you are smart because you’ve overcome the exact challenge they are trying to overcome. And in that moment you’re intelligent enough to explain it in a way that helps them do exactly the same.

Filling up your content menu with jargon and ten-dollar words will scare people away because they won’t get any value from it. In the end, you’ll sound like you’re covering something up – not exactly the outcome you were hoping for, is it?

Reason #4: You’re all over the place

It’s easy to get in the flow with writing (I’m as guilty as anyone) and start drifting off topic.

Before you know it, you’re down a rabbit hole talking about something so far from the objective of the article it feels like you’re in a different climate.

Your article needs to have one overriding message you want readers to leave with. Not two, three, four or five… ONE anchor point the rest of the article can revolve around.

Every other point you make needs to contribute to that main point.

You should introduce the main point up front and then design the rest of the article to build a compelling case for whatever point it is you’re making. Then at the end, revisit the main point and convince people to finally take action.

Each building block of your article should link and flow together – and you should subtly mention the overriding topic at every opportunity you can.

This subconsciously reminds the reader again and again – 1) what the article is about, and 2) what they are expected to do once they finish reading it.

Remember, the whole point of keeping your article “on topic” is to encourage readers to keep reading and take action once they finish.

When readers stay on your article long enough to take action, the more credibility you build with search engines. (Especially if they decide to navigate to another page on your site AFTER reading the article.)

There are two things you can do to make sure your article is staying on track:

1. Force yourself to revisit the main point in every section

Before you hit publish, run an acid test on every part of the post; do you reinforce the overriding message? Do you talk about something off-topic?

2. Link to other content

I’ll mention this in more depth in the tech section, but if you feel yourself drifting off-topic try linking to another blog post on your site that expands on the “off-topic” content.

Or, if you don’t have a post on your site that expands on this off-topic content, link to a resource on another website.

Here’s an example from Cody Lister of Market Doc. Rather than going off-topic, he links to an external article at Backlinko:

Both internal and external linking improve user experience and are considered quality factors by the big search engines.

Reason #5: It’s boring

The best content has a way of challenging the status quo and taking a unique viewpoint.

It revs up interest in a stale topic by looking at it through a different lens. Or, it flips a trending topic on it’s head, taking a new and interesting stand on something.

You could just grab a clickable headline, turn it into a list post, and drive some nice blog traffic.

But eventually you’ll get found out if there’s no substance underneath it all.

The further you push yourself to be one-of-a-kind, the more people will stand up and take notice. The more people take notice, the more links, shares, comments ,and kudos you will receive.

Kudos = good in Google’s eyes.

More and more Google is becoming an “experience” network. They want users to love what they see once they click a link in a search. If you can deliver something unique and interesting, people will come back for more. And that will make you cool in Google’s eyes.

Reason #6: It’s all about you (or not enough about you)

Your readers have to want what you have, and it is up to you to deliver it in a way that connects with them.

Talking about how great YOU are is not going to inspire anyone.

People want to feel like you care about them and you have put together this article with the singular goal of helping them do something.

This one’s not black and white, though. You do need to build credibility.

There is a subtle art to showing people what you’ve done, but without directly telling them you did it.

Illustrate points with case studies, examples, or results you have seen. But do it in a way that makes them feel like you are only showing them these things because it is going to HELP them understand something a little better.

Brian Dean is a genius at doing this – he regularly publishes user case studies on his blog.

Case studies show his readers that everything he talks about actually works, but he’s not necessarily telling them himself. There are REAL results for them to see:

In the end, people will resonate with you, NOT the tip, tool, or tactic you just gave them. So it’s about showing your personality, connecting with your audience, and building credibility – without blindly stroking your ego.

Striking a balance between credibility-building, helpfulness, and personal connection is hard, but if you nail it you’ll have people coming back for more. (And sharing your content with others.)

Reason #7: You don’t talk about fairies

When we use metaphors and stories, they help us engage people in ways statistics never can.

They help your readers access meaning you never thought possible, and accelerate the time it takes for someone to understand complex topics.

Metaphors also have a way of helping you, the writer, thoroughly understand what you are talking about – they force you to get crystal clear and deliver your message with power.

The big kicker with metaphors is they are extremely memorable.

Think about it for a second…

When you’re writing an article and want to mention a helpful resource to your readers, are you more likely to remember “The 9 Best Ways to Get Backlinks” or “The Skyscraper Technique”?

Most people are more likely to remember the metaphor, which means they are more likely to link back to it. Memorable content get more backlinks and, inevitably, better rankings.

Storytelling and metaphors go hand-in-hand, and an additional benefit to them is they keep people on your page for longer. (Remember – this is a good thing.)

Alex Turnbull from Groove HQ ran a split test on their blog, where they published the same blog post twice: one that began with a story and one that did not…

If you want social media shares, an increased user experience (time on page), and more backlinks… visual content is a good idea.

All those things contribute to how well your content ranks in search engines, so try to use images, screenshots, gifs, infographics, and videos as much as you can.

Technical stuff

Now for the technical stuff.

It’s not as sexy as the “quality content” jibber I just rattled off, but it’s VERY important.

After all, we’re talking to a robot remember?

Reason #12: You’re not running a bus tour

Another thing the big search engines consider when it comes to user experience is the links you include on your page (I mentioned this earlier).

Let’s start with internal links…

Where do you want the reader to go after reading your article? (Or whilst reading it?)

Perhaps more importantly, where SHOULD the reader go to help them with the next steps?

It’s your turn to be the tour bus guide and take your readers on a journey of your website.

You want them hopping from page to page, finding the most relevant content on each topic they are interested in.

This not only improves user experience, it boosts the time spent on your site.

But if you’re strategic about it, you can nurture readers on a natural journey from stranger to customer.

If they’ve just discovered who you are, what information do they NEED to get closer to a purchase? Or click an affiliate link? Or whatever it is you’re trying to get them to do.

Linking internally also sends a signal to Google. It tells them that the page you are linking to is important and that they should take notice.

Reason #13: You’re not sharing the love

Just like linking internally, you need to share the love too…

If you link to credible sources on other websites, you’re benefiting the user and helping them find the most appropriate information on your chosen topic.

The added bonus of mentioning cool people (and resources) in your content is it makes it easier to promote it.

Don’t just name drop for the sake of it, but if it adds value to your reader and contributes to the objective of your article why NOT link to a resource? (Especially when it’s a resource belonging to someone with an influential following?)

Once you hit publish, you’ve not only pleased the search engines by sharing the love, but you’ve just primed yourself to amplify the reach of your content by mentioning an influencer.

If you want to find some influencers that are worth mentioning in your next blog post, check out BuzzSumo:

Reason #14: You left your keywords at the corner store

The boring old keyword/search term drama…

Do they still matter?

Unfortunately, yes they do.

As far as Google’s algorithm has come in recent years, it’s still a robot. We need to effectively communicate to that robot in a way it understands, and keyword terms are the best way to do that. (For the moment at least.)

Try and get your primary keyword in the title, the first 100 words, and in your H1, H2, and H3 header tags.

Write for humans, create a connection, and engage your readers – those are your primary duties.

Then if and when it makes sense to do so, use your keywords.

Conducting keyword research will also help you spot opportunities for knocking some “first-pagers” off their perch with better and more informative content.

Reason #15: Your page loads about as quick as I run

Page loading speed and the general speed of your site are big user experience components, and whilst not directly related to your content, they will influence whether or not it ranks in search engines.

The PageSpeed Insights tool from Google Developers will help you analyze your site and identify ways you can speed it up:

If you’re not a techy, or can’t justify the budget for a fully fledged developer I’d consider getting a service like WPCurve or Automation Agency. Both give you access to developers from their offshore teams for a very reasonable monthly investment.

Reason #16: Your permalink is complicated

When it comes to the URL of your page, simplicity is better.

Try and take away as much of the “filler” text as you can.

An SEO friendly permalink is literally just the keywords you want to rank for, with no other distracting stuff. It pretty much just cuts out any confusion, making it very easy for search engines to index your page.

Plus it looks nicer!

Kevin knows what I’m talking about:

Whether or not you can do this will depend on your link setup on your site. And if you’ve had them going for a while, you may be stuck with the old-school, date-stamped URLs that are just about longer than the entire browser bar.

But don’t worry too much. This is a nice-to-have more than a necessity.

Reason #17: You’re scaring people away

Time on site…

I know I keep harping on about it, but it’s becoming more and more important.

That’s one of the main reasons everyone is writing longer and longer content, because even if people read 20-30% of it they’ve probably stayed on your site for longer than they would’ve done for a 500-word brain dump.

But it doesn’t matter how good your content is if your site design and navigation are a mess.

46% of people say a website’s design is the number one factor in determining its credibility (over anything else).

The takeaway?

Focus on brand congruency, consistent colors, white space, and clear navigation. Do anything you can do to make life simpler and more enjoyable for your visitors.

Reason #18: Your meta description forgets about the user

The meta description is the mini paragraph that users read in a search result.

Like these…

Ask yourself why the user is finding your content? What have they just searched for?

The closer you can align your description to that intent, and the better you can solve the query they have, the better chance they will click on your article rather than someone else’s.

The more clicks you get, the better you will perform over time – but ONLY if they stay on your site.

Yes, clicks matter to Google, but the click may have a reverse effect if they bounce off your site straight after getting there.

So, yes, you need to make sure your meta description is enticing enough to attract a click, but you also need to make sure it’s as closely aligned to the content in your article as possible so the user doesn’t bounce immediately after arriving.

Yoast SEO is a great tool for optimising this if you are using WordPress:

Reason #19: You’ve got short blog syndrome

Short content can come across as a little offensive these days.

People scoff at a 300 or 400 word blog post…

“That’s all I’m worth to you?”

Obviously there are some exceptions that have been doing this since the dawn of blogging, like Seth Godin and the like.

But for the rest of us who are fighting for attention in an over-crowded world of epic content, short posts won’t cut it.

Google also considers longer content to be higher quality (in general at least), with most high ranking articles having over 2,000 words:

Reader Interactions

Comments

You shared many fine points here. And listing 20 proven tactics is certainly effective, as shown in your chart. Also, you made it very practical, and easy to digest.

I’m considering using the list method more, but I want to use 3, perhaps. There are several reasons for this:
– How many people recall all items in a list, or even return to the article to try different things?
– Will many, especially those with very little knowledge of the subject, feel motivated to learn several new things?
– Is it always practical to go into such depth with a high number of points?

I think 3 is a great number for psychological reasons, and it’s something that Derek Halpern has explained in detail before. So, I will personally try that, to see if it makes readers more motivated to take action. I once wrote an article with “2 Quick Steps” which received good engagement in a short time.

Like all things in life, I think “it depends.” Haha. It all depends on the individual, right? One person will see a headline touting “57 Great Tips…” and think, “That’s way too many for me to read.” Another person will see that same headline and think, “FINALLY — an article worth my time!”

Conversely, one person could see a headline about “3 Amazing Strategies” and think, “Only three?!?” Meanwhile, another person will be relieved: “I can handle three — that’s a small number.”

All that to say, longer list posts can definitely work. They just won’t work for everyone. As a point of comparison, I’ve written two articles for OptinMonster. One was titled…

“16 Ridiculously Simple Ways To Get More Email Subscribers in Less than 5 Minutes”

…and the other was titled:

“3 Amazingly Effective Lead Magnets You Can Create in Minutes”

One was a long(ish) list post. The other was a short list post. Both did well, but in my case the longer one outperformed the shorter one.

Your mileage may vary, of course. 🙂

The one thing I would suggest is if you go the “short list post” route, it’s imperative each point is detailed. In fact, I’d say the shorter the number of points, the longer and more in-depth each point should be.

What are your thoughts, Nathan? (And Will — we’d love to get your two cents on the matter!)

It seems like Kevin has given you a pretty outstanding response to this question.

How long your post is, or how many elements you include in a list is highly contextual.

I would ask yourself 2 questions if I was you;

1. Who are your audience? What do they want? – Find out exactly what TYPE of content they like to share/read by using tools like BuzzSumo to see what content has performed well in the past. I find it’s best not to make assumptions or guess… Find out instead!

2. What are your specific goals for writing the post/article? For example, if you want to rank well in search engines… Analyze all the other content that has ranked well on your chosen topic, and see what is performing the best in terms of links, shares and engagement.

Once you confirm the type of content your audience (and the search engines) have proven to like on your topic, then you can get to creating it.

I agree with your two questions, Will. I think, however, that the goal must be established first, then the audience to fulfill it. That’s something I’ve picked up from watching carefully, and talking to people who take action on a blog post that they’ve read. It has really helped me to re-focus.

I also agree about context. I used an example in my reply to Kevin to illustrate that. What you said is certainly important.

Yes, I recall that first OptinMonster post very well. In fact, I was the first to comment on it.

Yes, I agree that articles with fewer points should cover them more deeply. Better to cover a few points very well, than to overwhelm with many points. That’s what I think anyway. It seems more practical to me.

I’ve noticed that the motives for reading an article also play a big part. For example, your post about how to write a blog post is very popular for obvious reasons as a blogger. It’s a pillar post, and provides a nice tutorial of what is involved, with reasons to return. However, for somebody looking for instructions on how to change a headlamp in their car, a 10,273-word post with lots of steps would be off-putting.

Like you, I’ve been sitting back and observing a lot of things. Based on what my clients reveal to me, I will try the fewer points in-depth route for my targets, with the occasional longer post to tie things together.

Great post. It’s really reassuring to know that most of the SEO ‘tricks’ simply come down to the quality of your posts, with a little technical tweaking at the end. ‘Simply’ is probably not the right word, as there’s nothing simple about crafting brilliant blog posts, but I liked your round up of the ingredients you should include.

I’m interested to know why brackets in headlines rank better – I think you said it was about 38%?
Mel

I think we all (at times) get a little scared of SEO… But in my experience the calmer you are at approaching it, the better the results!

That’s a good question about the brackets in headlines. I’m not sure exactly why people like them, but they tend to get higher click throughs.

Perhaps it’s because typically something in brackets is highlighting a “Bonus” or an extra piece of value – and our subconscious picks that up. It draws their eyes to the bracket and catches their attention amongst the sea of other headlines.

Regarding brackets, my hunch is it comes to what they represent. Usually, see them used like so:

“How To Get Free Blog Traffic [Infographic]”

A reader who sees this headline knows what to expect. There’s no mystery. There’s no clicking on the link and then being disappointed by what you find. You KNOW you’re going to get an infographic about free blog traffic.

That’s typically how brackets are used…

[Infographic}
[Template]
[Free Bonus]
[Case Study]

That’s why I think they perform better. People can see exactly what they’re going to get before clicking.

Good to see you here on BaBB. If I’m honest, I’m not a fan of SEO. But it’s always nice to read an article that explains it well as you’ve done here.

Whenever I see or hear the term “scanners” I’m always reminded of that early 80s film, “Scanners”, famous for the heads exploding!! It’s a little how I feel when people try explaining SEO to me :).

Yoast SEO is always telling me my SEO count is poor and yet people are finding me on the internet and I’m getting about 1 sign-up a day – not huge but considering those who sign up are motivated and engaged, it’s great. Getting to know popular bloggers like Kevin and their sharing my content has done wonders for getting readers. My returning reader numbers are increasing too – always a good sign.

Also, I don’t think my lack of focus on SEO matters to my readers because many of them come to my blog telling me how little traffic SEO has got them and asking me what will work for them instead. The answer is the strategy I write about most on my blog.

Short content can work. It just needs to have a reason and a pay-off for readers. I tend to write long posts because they help me include what readers want to know. But I also publish shorter posts. Bernadette Jiwa of thestoryofselling.com is a brilliant example of short blog posts working.

And I do agree with you on how important promotion of content is. My blog is 14 months old and I’ve just published my 11th post. In between posts, I’ve promoted hard. Promotion works.

Sensational post. Because you focused on both creating good content and the tech stuff. I could do a bit more tech. As for good content I am doing A-OK. If you can see your post on Page 1 of Google and feel awesome about it, you’re likely clear on the post. Meaning the quality is top shelf, usually. But if after writing and reading it to self, you feel like it doesn’t belong, it may be time to write more from the heart.

Yes, it’s absolutely okay to change your permalink! Do you see the permalink for this article? It’s beabetterblogger [dot] com, and then “search-engine-ranking” at the end.

That was a change I made. By default, as you said, the permalink is the title of the article/page.

Ideally, your permalink should absolutely contain your keyword/keyphrase. Can you guess what keyphrase I was going for with Will’s article? “Search engine ranking” 🙂

As for whether the the page title, the URL, and meta title all need to contain your keyword, it’s certainly great if they do. But, just make sure your URL has it.

Why?

Because that’s the one thing you can’t (or shouldn’t) change once your article is published. You can change your page title and meta title as many times as you want after your article is published. But the URL? That’s permanent. That’s forever. (Or, again, should be.)

Hi Will and Kevin, great post Will. Some really excellent points. I still struggle with the 2000+ word posts. I try not to get too crazy about hitting it and try to shoot for at least 1200 but sometimes end up in the 800-1000 range. I don’t like to add words to just reach a number. I do like to keep it simple so my readers can understand the point of the post quickly and easily.
So true on the headlines – I have been using the co-scheduler for that and it really helps me to focus in on different headlines. It really helps with the sharing on the social networks.
I really like your tip about always going back to your main point in each paragraph, something for me to work on for my next post.
Thank you so much for this very useful info that I can put right to use! I hope you both have a nice weekend.

The word count thing is something a lot of people struggle with… As you said there’s no point including “words for the sake of words”.

So I think for blog posts your word count is perfectly fine.

What I’ve found though, for the anchor pieces of content that you may be trying to build backlinks for – those pages on your site that are optimized for fairly broad keyword terms. Such as “search engine ranking” like Kevin mentioned in an earlier comment.

You probably wouldn’t be doing a broad topic any justice if it was just 1,000-1,200 words, and would find it hard to get quality backlinks at scale.

Epic Will. I missed this in the mastermind when it came out.
It makes so much of the blogging challenges easier, and shows some great examples too. Love the way you put it together.
I have been watching Brian Dean and his naming too, and have seen a few other top business bloggers mention this – naming things makes them memorable, even if you did not invent it. Like the content extension, now owned by Brian, but existing way before him (Clay Colins was the first to do it that I know of).
off to share on social
ashley

Will, thanks for sharing this article. I’ve heard most of the items in this list before. What I liked is that you put the solution in a different way that makes a lot more sense than I have found in other places. For example, I knew that internal and external links were important. I don’t recall ever reading before how to use internal and external links the way that you put it. I’m going to refer to this list again. Thanks.

I was just going through this post right now just finished with half of it. I found it so interesting today I came to know about the fact that google and fans look for article with long content this is the fact and will surely work on the same.
I hope this will be helpful for all readers like me!!

Every one want to know how google rank blog even how search engine ranking works but they do not want to work harders on their headlines internal links and media etc. Thus left behind somewhere in google pages.You menitoned everything that it takes to rank on search engine.

I was doing some research today because I’m looking for website speed resources.

I came across your site. Incredible work! I really enjoy your refreshing perspective.

I actually just finished the final touches on an infographic covering the impact and solutions to website speed & performance. (My infographics have been featured on Huffington Post and other top publications).

Since your site is an excellent resource, I thought you’d find some use out of it 🙂

Let me know if you want to check it out. I’d love to send it your way.

I liked this post and agree with you on all points for site/post ranking..I have seen that using these tips it worked for me too…..I am new to these things but being learner this is an awesome post to me…